No harm done mate; it's good to hear an unbiased 2nd opinion to confirm our suspicions ...

All input is gratefully accepted !

Thanx mate that's very nice of you. cheers

i am gonna get dot5 in mine, it is based on silicon :P
not that corrosive.
Dot5.1 is (corosive)
Expecting arrival of brakes this week

hi there, just read all this lot and am now worried about mine. i have checked my original manual and it says to only use dot3. i know that my brake fluid has not been changed in at least 18months - 2 years so i should probly get it changed pronto eh? but what brake fluid to use now? is it really hard to get this dot 3 then? please advise on what is the best to get.

you should be fine on Dot 4 I believe


somebody correct me if I m wrong

doesn't Stu use castrol response dot4?

as i was thinking of getting the same soon

He does, and so am I

Castrol SUPER Response

haha i did see this also on one of the sites i was looking at

got any good places that have it for a good price?

You can get it from Opie Oils via ebay - 2 litres for £24 delivered AND if you check out the discount section there is money off too for Goldies

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Castrol-Response-Super-DOT4-Synthetic-Brake-Fluid-2L_W0QQitemZ170071632364QQihZ007QQcategoryZ72205QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item170071632364

how many litres do we need again?

The brake fluid capacity is really tiny, its the flushing thats a waste, I have managed 2 complete system flush/refill & bleed out of a 1lt container and still have a splash left. The link above is only for 2lt pots though.

Don't be shy with flushing - a couple of quids worth of brake fluid is nothing compared to the hassle of having to replace the seals if the fluid goes off and wears the seals out !!!

how often should this be done??

right so 2lt should be plenty for a flush out and refill then?

think its meant to be every two years, but im not sure when it was last done on mine and i want to make use of all the handling mods when i get them fitted eventually

oh and 3k posts!!! wohoo!

..welcome to the 3k+ posts club Murray

Yep - spot on

today found a bottle of an old brake fluid my father have at home
Galp (portuguese brand) Travia 4
it says is DOT 3 and DOT 4 accepted so now no worries about it

I hope it's sealed; if not, then it'll be contaminated, and you should throw it away and buy a new one .....

it is well closed but I've my doubts because it is such old
looks very clean inside and was kept in the basement

Can you use dot 4 to top up on what I pressume is dot 3 in the resevoir or do I have to drain the system and start from scratch?

No you can mix them, modern DOT 4 is a direct replacement for DOT 3 :D

just topped up my fluid today used dot 3 as it says on the cap!

DOT 4 is backwards compatible with DOT 3, but better quality.

DOT 3 will be just fine though.

I had a problem with this dot 4.Had to replace the clutch piston because of it.It wasn't expensive but I had no clutch pedal.Put back in Dot 3 fluid,the mechanic seed.Read what spells on the reservoir fluid cap.USE ONLY DOT 3 FLUID.
Dot 3 it's thicker then Dot 4.

i topped my brake fluid up with castrol dot4 and the warning light went off

I have Dot5.1 (from Brega) fluid in the system for a year now. Its incredible stuff on the tracks, I didnt had it boiling yet Seems to be holding fine with al the brake parts.

DOT5.1 has cost me SIX blown calipers in th elast 2.5 years, bloody rubbish, just binned it for DOT4 and its miles better, going to Super 4 soon

how the ... did you do that? thats very weird that you have 6 in 2,5 and I nothing in say 1 year. Euh?

In what way is it miles better? better braking? bit early to tell if it's solved your leaking calipers problem, surely?